TPom Week 2018
by Crystal Volcheck
Summary: A collection of 7 drabbles/one-shots originally written for and posted during tpom week 2018 on tumblr. All are set in the Park Avenue verse (aka humanized) and have been edited/changed from their initial debut on tumblr.
1. Operation: Snow-Cones

**Each drabble/one-shot was originally written for tPoM Week 2018 Nov. 25th- Dec.1st and have been altered/edited/polished from their original/initial posting on tumblr with the exception of Day 6 and Day 7 which I did not get around to finishing until well after tpom week and did not post them on tumblr.**

**Enjoy :)**

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Day 1 - Operation: Snow-Cones

Marlene wrinkled her nose at the sight of Skipper and Private digging into their rainbow colored snowcones. She never understood the appeal of having so many flavors, especially ones that didn't go together, for the sake of appearance. At least Kowalski and Rico had good taste when it came to flavors, although she would take Kowalski's Root Beer over Rico's Tiger Blood any day if cherry wasn't an option which had happened on more than one occasion.

Nevertheless, she didn't say anything about Skipper's flavor choice or the fact that they could easily buy their own snow-cone machine and have them whenever they wanted. She had learned from that mistake quickly, the memory of that day as fresh in her mind as if it had happened just hours ago instead of years.

_"If you guys like snow-cones so much why don't you just get a snow-cone maker?" The question had been nagging at Marlene long before Private had invited her to get snow-cones with the team earlier that afternoon. It wasn't unusual to see the four making snow-cone runs although she hadn't really noticed how often the four men would go out for the frozen treat until they started inviting her along and she found herself missing their trips to Central Park when they had left for a month-long mission._

_"It's not in the budget." _

_Skipper's answer came out clipped, sharper than Marlene had anticipated, causing her to pause mid-step. She wondered if the mission was more difficult than Skipper made it seem. It wouldn't be the first time he had shrugged off a major assignment like it was a milk run when he had instead stared Death in the face._

_"Don't worry about him Marlene," Private nudged her with his shoulder and they quickly fell into step behind Rico and Kowalski. "Skipper's feathers are just a bit ruffled from having to debrief with Alice this morning. He went against orders and was reprimanded for it along with a few other things. After a snow-cone he'll be right as rain. In a way it's our tradition, especially after a particularly rough mission."_

_"That makes sense," Marlene glanced at Skipper, her fondness for the man was growing with each thing that she learned about him that went against his tough as nails persona. Still even if it was a tradition, the tradition could have been going out for anything from pizza to egg-rolls. "But why snow-cones? It just seems like an odd choice."_

_Private chuckled at her question. "It seems a little funny doesn't it? My Uncle Nigel was positively baffled by it when he assisted us on a mission that went all topsy-turvy. And when you think about it could have been any old thing really, but one time we were on a mission and everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. We ended up stranded in a desert with no supplies and no equipment, only the clothes he had been wearing which weren't even our CENTRAAL issued uniforms."_

_Marlene shuddered at the thought of enduring the desert heat with nothing more than the clothes on her back. "Didn't CENTRAAL know where you were?" _

_"That was part of the problem, without our uniforms there was no way for CENTRAAL to track us as far as they knew we were still being held captive. They wouldn't send another team out unless we went over 12 hours without contacting the nearest base. We really thought that it was the end, even if we weren't to go down without a fight. Still one day Skipper started talking about how if he was going to die in the desert then he wished that the last thing he could eat was some shaved ice. Of course, all of us agreed and we started talking about the ice treats we had as kids. Even Rico mentioned how long it had been since he had had some copo."_

_"Copo?" Marlene asked never having heard of it before. _

_"It's Costa Rican shaved ice," Kowakski cut in with a knowing smile, having slowed down to join the conversation. "Traditionally topped with powdered milk, kola syrup and condensed milk but some vendors also offer fruit, marshmallows and Dr. Pepper syrup. Kola syrup is the red slush syrup and it's not Coca Cola flavored, it's actually just very sweet," he glanced over a Rico with a fond look as he added, "almost too sweet for me."_

_"I'm sorry Rico, but that sounds awful." Marlene apologized her teeth aching at just the description. __S__he had a sweet tooth that could rival Kowalski's but sometimes there were such things as too sweet and many of the confections that Rico favored seemed to find that line. Still __Rico only shrugged as if to say it wasn't for everyone like he did when anyone pulled a face on the things he enjoyed. __"So, you were all reminiscing about shaved ice while stranded in the desert, but how did that turn into getting snow-cones after missions? And how on earth did you actually get out of that situation?"_

_"Well a lot of that mission is still classified," Private looked sheepish like he had already said more than he should have but continued on, "but it basically boils down to things getting worse when we thought they possibly couldn't and Skipper turns to us and says-"_

_"Men," Skipper's voice cut in, "if we make it out of this alive we're going out for snow-cones and if we don't, I better see you in Dante's Ninth Circle because we're getting our goddamned snow-cones."_

"Marlene?" Skipper's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she turned to see him looking at her with concern. "Are you going to eat your snow-cone or just let it melt?"

"Sorry, I was just lost in thought. It's been like a month since I've seen you guys. You're normally not gone that long, and I guess my imagination of what you could have been doing got the better of me." Marlene joked, pushing back all thoughts of there being a day where there weren't any Penguins to get snow-cones with.


	2. Operation: Undercover

Day 2 - Operation: Undercover

"If I wasn't already in a committed relationship, you'd be in the running to be my Queen. I can just see a crown on your head now. Spun from gold and practically dripping with rubies and topaz. It'd be exquisite, but not too exquisite. I can't let my own crown be outdone," Julien rambled as he brushed the platinum blonde wig that would soon hide Marlene's natural brunette locks.

"I didn't think I was your type," Marlene teased only earning a minor glare from Rico who was holding up several liquid lipsticks to her face, none of which were colors she'd ever think about wearing herself.

Julien rolled his eyes and stood with the wig in hand, "Rico, let me get this on and add some sparkle before you decide on the lipstick. And for your information, Marlene," he started to say as he pulled the wig over Marlene's head with a little assistance from Rico. "I'm interested in everything," he caught Rico's eye and winked as he combed through the synthetic hair with his fingers, "as long as it's beautiful."

Marlene couldn't see Julien as he stepped behind her but took great amusement in watching Rico roll his eyes at the remark.

"Don't think I didn't see that Rico," Julien chastised gently as he opened a box of jewelry that was worth more money than Marlene could ever dream of making in her life, winning the lottery included. He selected a princess cut diamond necklace with pearl accents and more modest diamond earring to match. As he secured the necklace he met Rico's eyes, "you are beautiful to me even if you do not see it yourself. I could spend hours worshipping your beauty, tasting every inch of your deep golden skin. It reminds of the sunset kissed sand on the shores of Madagascar. But my favorite part of you is your eyes- if your body is the shore than your eyes are the sea. I could get lost in them for hours especially when the sunlight hits them, and they become the same shade as the swimming hole in my kingdom."

"Stop."

"Ugh, fine, but we will return to this later and go with the grey."

Even though Rico's voice had been clear and firm it was clear the Julien's words had affected him. Marlene wasn't sure she had ever seen Rico look so flustered his down cheeks dark with blood. In a way it was kind of funny seeing them interact, when it first came out that they were dating she had found it hard to believe and much like Skipper had been inclined to believe it was more likely a physical relationship than a romantic one. Yet, the more he watched them and saw the them interact it had been so clear that Rico and Julien had become rather smitten with each other.

"'Ello Marlene, Skipper wanted me to go over the mission with you before-" Private froze the second Marlene turned to face him. "You look beautiful. Drop-dead gorgeous really."

"Thanks, Private. I haven't even gotten a chance to look at myself yet." Just as soon as she finished her sentence Julien handed her an orange star-shaped hand mirror and she felt has stunned as Private must have. Rico had almost completely reshaped her face with contour alone lending her sharp aristocratic features. "I don't even look like myself."

Private cleared his throat and took a seat beside Marlene opening up the file he had carried in, "you're not supposed to be yourself either. That is point of an undercover mission after all and I'd like to run though a few things before you and Skipper have to leave. It can be a lot especially since you're not trained for this. Why don't you just start by introducing yourself. Just tell me who you are and where you are going, and why you are there."

"I am Arlene Garcia, recently wed to the former International Playboy, Diego Garcia. We are attending our first charity event as husband and wife after an extended honeymoon in Buenos Aires." Marlene answered calmly even though her stomach tying itself in knots.

"Good, now you don't really need to worry about anything other than playing up your newlywed romance. Many women at the event have had an interest in Diego Garcia so we expect them to approach you and use it to our advantage by using it as leverage in conversations to find out more about the paintings that are going up for auction. And if you're stuck Kowalski and I will be listening the whole time and will be able to feed you details or lines to either further or escape a conversation," Private explained.

However, Marlene was stuck on playing newlywed with Skipper. When Skipper had first approached her about going undercover she'd been excited by the prospect, but now she wasn't sure if she could pull it off. Her and Skipper didn't have a romantic relationship and she wasn't trained in any way to do undercover work which meant the odds of her being able to pull off completely besotted wife was slim-to-none. She thought about how Julien and Rico interacted how they just looked at each other and you could see the pure adoration for each other in their eyes.

"I can't do this." Marlene crumbled with the statement and Rico handed her a clean beauty blender to dab at the fresh tears forming in her eyes.

"Marlene? What's wrong?" Skipper's voice cut through Private's reassurance and within seconds the room was cleared leaving them together. He dropped down into the now empty seat in front of her and took her hands into his.

"The mission, I can't do it Skipper. I'll mess it up and blow your cover and I don't think I could live with myself if something happened you because of me," Marlene confessed all of the things that had worried her from the beginning spilling out.

"You know I really didn't want to bring ringtail with us, but I have to admit that him and Rico did an amazing job. Although, it's not you, not the real you. Don't get me wrong Arlene is beautiful, but I'd rather have Marlene any day."

"Skipper…" Marlene could feel her face heat under his gaze, "showering me in meaningless compliments isn't going to make me feel more confident about this mission."

Skipper sighed, "Marlene, I asked you to help me on this mission because you're the only one I knew who could handle this mission. It had to be someone who everyone could believe tamed Diego Garcia and that someone is you, Marlene. Because let's face it if you can get me to apologize and admit I'm wrong then you can convince an international playboy to settle down or loose the greatest thing to ever happen to him," Skipper's spoke, his voice soft.

Marlene laughed a little feeling somewhat foolish and looked up at Skipper wanting to tell him that if he wanted that he could have just put Kowalski in drag. Instead she found herself speechless at the admiration and clear affection in his blue eyes. This was the side of Skipper that drew her to him, the side she wanted to see more of, the side she could see herself falling for if she hadn't already started to already. "Okay, let's do this. After all I wouldn't want all of Julien and Rico's hardwork to go to waste."

"You're only missing one thing and you'll be perfect," Skipper smiled and slipped a ring onto Marlene's finger. "We are married after all."


	3. Operation: New York

Day 3 - Operation: New York

"Wait, you're telling me that you were an actual king in Madagascar, decided to follow the Penguins to Africa and then through Europe, and after making it to New York, decided to stay here?" Marlene interrupted Julien's babble as what he said set in. "I understand the Penguins coming back since it is their HQ or whatever, but you could have gone _anywhere_."

"I could say the same to you Marlene. New York isn't your first home either," Julien shot back as he held up another paint chip next to the leather furniture he'd already picked out for the lounge area of the club.

"No, but I was going anywhere that gave me a chance to follow the career I wanted." Marlene explained as she looked through several fabric swatches that Julien had handed her. It would be hard to convince him to tone down on the faux fur and gold theme that he seemed inclined to. "If I got hired by a gallery in Chicago I'd be in Chicago. You were free and could go anywhere. There's people who would kill to have that."

"Funny things Marlene, in a way I was almost killed for it." Julien turned to her his paint chips forgotten as he gave her his full attention. "I was a King in Madagascar, that is obvious in just looking at how gorgeous I am, but few consider what that means. Wherever there is a throne there is peoples who want it. In my time both before and after I took the throne most of my family was killed, my Great Uncle Julien tried to kill me, my closest friends were almost lost to me in brutal wars over territory, and while the woman I loved became queen, it was to another king."

"Julien, I'm so sorry I didn't realize-" Marlene trailed off unsure of how to put what she wanted to say. She had only been curious especially after Julien had suddenly decided to ask her for a hand in redoing some areas of the club since he deemed them hideous, outdated, and so six months ago. He hadn't ever really approached her or tried to get to know her like the Penguins had. Julien had always remained somewhat of a mystery to her even more so when it became clear that he and the Penguins had richer history than she had ever imagined. It also helped to explain how Rico and Julien ended up becoming so close in what seemed like a short amount of time already have known each other for years.

'It is not a part of my life I share with many," Julien shrugged and looked away from Marlene's sympathetic gaze. "Madagascar was my home, a home I had to leave," he explained as he fidgeted with the gold bangles and bracelets adorning his wrists feeling vulnerable and exposed to the older woman, "and while I had at some point hoped I'd be able to return the Sky Spirits made it clear to me some years ago that it was time I made a new home."

"And you decided on New York?" Even if Marlene loved living in New York and knew that she was a city girl through and through, she wouldn't have chosen to settle so quickly in New York if given the choice.

Julien frowned at the question as if it were obvious, "I decided I would go wherever the Penguins went even if it hadn't been required of me to."

"Really?" That was the part Marlene couldn't wrap her mind around. Even if Julien and the Penguins had a history the relationship between them was certainly strained to a degree with everyone on the team, even Rico at times, citing Julien as an annoyance. Although any true animosity was between Skipper and Julien, the two constantly butting heads over the simplest and smallest of things.

"Yes, not only did they help save my kingdom and my subjects from a grizzly end, but I found them intriguing and thought that it couldn't be a mere coincidence that four strangers who carried some of the same traits as my former bodyguard would come to the aid of me and my kingdom. It was as though they were a gift from the Sky Spirits themselves." Julien always liked to imagine what it would have been like if Clover had met them. He liked to think that her and Skipper would have argued and fought over the right way to do things while she and Private would have bonded over fantasy stories, much like how her and Rico would most likely spar together. Kowalski was the one that Clover would have a harder time getting along with, but Kowalski probably would have been more than happy to design weapons or traps to increase security which would have made Clover the happiest of them all.

Marlene did the math in her head, thinking about how long Julien had known the Penguins before settling in New York and how painfully young he was when he met them. "I imagine it was easier to settle where there was something you were familiar with too. You traveled with the Penguins for months, maybe even a year."

"Almost two, but it was more than familiarity. It was also because I realized that while I have seen and experienced things many people only ever dream of thanks to the protection granted to me by the Sky Spirits, that type of life can become painfully lonesome. Even more lonesome knowing that I had nothing but death waiting for me in Madagascar. New York on the other hand-"

"-was full of life?" Marlene guessed and smiled softly at Julien amazed by the depth of his character and how well he hid it.

"Yes," Julien answered and smiled at Marlene thinking that Clover would have liked her too. Even though he knew that Clover would have hated New York.


	4. Operation: Invention

**Note: the universe code is the first letters of a fic title followed by the date it was published. That way its infinite tpom universes created by the fandom. So their universe being the Park Avenue series was PA-07132015 with 07/13/2015 being the date I published Welcome to Park Avenue basically establishing that universe. And the second universe is a reference to one of the first humanized tpom fics, I read and it was quite popular once upon a time when the fandom was booming, The Lives of Sixth Grade Military Boys by pinwheelwhirl. I did shorten the title for the universe code because TLoSGMB-06202010 looked a little too long. **

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Day 4 - Operation: Invention

"Okay Kowalski, how is this invention going to destroy the world this time?" Skipper asked as Kowalski began to connect a heavily modified laptop up to the television.

"Ha ha, Skipper somehow that joke gets less funny every time you tell it which is truly a feat since it was never funny to begin with." Kowalski rolled his eyes and changed the input on the television causing the screen to show their living room exactly as it was in that moment.

Private tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the screen while his reflection did the same. "So what exactly are we looking at Kowalski? Did you upgrade the security cameras?"

Kowalski chuckled and shook his head at the idea all the hours he'd spent in the lab this week resulting in only a security upgrade. "This is far from a simple camera upgrade, Private. In fact, this little invention just proved the multiverse theory to be correct."

Rico raised an eyebrow at the term multiverse while Private voiced almost exactly what he was thinking.

"Do you mean a multiverse like in comics?"

"Exactly like in comics. It seemed rather obvious after taking into consideration that a universe isn't necessarily one of the types that have been described by scientists who have studied the theory, but rather a unique combination of several. More specifically that there exists an infinite universe in which every possible event will occur an infinite number of times and that these universes while infinite are also consequently quantum meaning that a new universe when is created when a diversion in events occurs."

"Ugh, skip to the point in English." Skipper groused deciding he did not have enough coffee to deal with Kowalski after an inventing breakthrough.

Kowalski huffed but complied. "Basically, this device will allow us to see every infinite version of ourselves from every infinite version of our infinite universes."

"What universe are we looking at now?" Skipper asked eyeing the screen doubtfully and wondering exactly how this invention was going to blow up in their faces.

"Universe PA-07132015 or our current universe," Kowalski waved and his double on the screen did the same. "But if I just alter the code and give it a few minutes and there," the screen changed to show four pre-teen boys with backpacks chatting as they walked along the crowded sidewalk, "this is Universe SGMB-06202010."

Skipper frowned at the screen. "We're kids?"

"Yes, this was one the first universes I stumbled across last night," Kowalski's voice rose a few octaves in excitement. "It's quite interesting apparently here we're all the same age and actually grew up together although Skipper's father is planning on sending him to military school."

"This is brilliant Kowalski! Can you look for specific universes like one where I didn't leave MI6?" Private asked eyes wide with wonder. He was already thinking about a universe where he had never taken that shot, had never let Kidd get under his skin.

Kowalski frowned at the question even though he had fully anticipated it, "yes and no. I haven't quite gotten the algorithms right to do a specific search, but once a universe is located and tagged with a code I can enter the code manually to revisit that universe. Such as TPoM-11292008," Kowalski entered the code and the screen changed once more to show four penguins that bared a striking resemblance to them waving to a crowd of people, "where we are penguins operating out of the Central Park Zoo."

"Cute," Skipper remarked flatly although he had to admit he was even impressed with Kowalski's creation. And much like Private he was curious if there was a universe where Hans hadn't betrayed him or Frankie hadn't decided to go rogue. "I have to say that this multiverse contraption you've slapped together seems pretty harmless, Kowalski. Which is not something I ever thought I'd say of one of your inventions."

"It is harmless, at least physically, but mentally? Some of the universes I found were hard to swallow to say the least, I saw the universe where Frankie took that shot and you weren't fast enough, one where Private had joined North Wind -"

Private looked scandalized by the mere thought and horrified that his uncle had been able to convince him to transfer to North Wind instead off CENTRAAL in any universe.

"-and," Kowalski found himself hesitating as he looked over at Rico, "one were we didn't make it in time when we raided the warehouse in Chile." That one had been one of the hardest to stumble across and even bringing it up caused a heavy weight to settled over the team. It was certainly a good decision on his part to leave out some of the other universes he had come across. From Dr. David Octavius Brine succeeding in his revenge to Dr. Blowhole forcing Skipper to watch as each one of them was killed. Kowalski cleared his throat, "I wouldn't recommend trying to look into too many universes that pertain to the choices we did or did not make."

"Well," Private started as the somber mood continued to hang over them, "I suppose there's a reason they say that curiosity killed the cat."


	5. Operation: Penguins

Day 5 - Operation: Penguins - Thursday, 29th November (TPoM Day)

Alice had only sat down at her desk with her coffee when she saw a young CENTRAAL agent. Jones was his last name, she remembered him from his interviews. He had shown a lot of promise but after getting too cocky in the field he had been demoted to office work. But of course, that didn't stop the little weasel from kissing ass to climb the ladder to more prestigious office work like being on The Council's staff.

"G-good morning, Director Alice," Agent Jones's voice wavered and his grip on the rather thick file he was holding tightened.

She raised an eyebrow at the file noting how he was practically shaking in the open doorway of her office. Good, at least he knew that not even being an errand boy for the Council would protect him from her pre-caffeine wrath. "I thought I made it clear that the next agent who brought me a report before I even had my coffee would be demoted straight to the mail room. Automatic termination if it's related to Penguins."

Jones paled at the comment, "I know, Director and I apologize for disrupting your routine, but the Council feels that it is urgent that you fill one of the positions left on the Penguins roster while Manfredi and Johnson are out on medical leave."

"Is the Council aware that I've tried? Davis has rejected every single applicant I've sent his way." Alice snapped not even bothering to get into how difficult it was to even find someone who had even the slightest chance of surviving the sometimes quite literally explosive personalities of the team. Or the fact that she had other teams in the project to manage. She was the Zookeeper damn it and that meant she oversaw making sure that a lot of highly dangerous, but highly valued assists didn't decide to go rogue.

"They are quite aware of how difficult Captain Davis can be, Director. Which is why they've selected the application they would like to present to him at the earliest convenience."

Alice eyed the folder doubtfully and held her hand out to take the file. When Jones finally got over tripping on his own feet to hand her the file she was she was surprised by the weight of it. "This is one applicant?"

"Yes, Special Agent James Quinn, a transfer from MI6. Apparently, there was an incident on a mission that ended with a civilian causality and he decided to leave." Jones explained as Alice opened the file and began to skim for any details that could sway Captain Davis. The leader of the Penguins was a legendary thorn in the side of the higher ups when it came to placing agents on his team.

"Hmm, he's only 20." Alice commented recalling that there were only a handful of other agents she knew of who had a file thicker than it should have been given their age.

"He is young, but the Council believes that he would make a good Penguin," Jones replied. "He also fits the profile that Captain Davis is drawn to."

"Well, I'll look over his file and contact Captain Davis, after I finish my coffee." Jones turned to leave as if that dismissed him, but Alice had to get one last dig in. "Oh, and Agent Jones, tell the Council that if they ever interrupt my morning routine for anything short of an international incident or death again that they will have my resignation letter before lunch." It was always a fun threat to throw in, even more so now that the Council realized that without her as director, Project: Habitat would fall apart.

"R-right, I'll let the Council know."

"Thank you and have a good day, Agent Jones." Alice smiled to herself behind her coffee mug at the sight of the agent practically running out of her office. Once he was gone she sighed, setting her coffee mug down before pinching the bridge of her nose as the headache she always seemed to get when it came to dealing with the Penguins set in.

Still, the comment about the transfer fitting the profile they had established did make her curious and vaguely hopeful. She turned to her computer and pulled up the current Penguin roster recalling that a few of those agents with a file larger than it should be given their time in the field were currently Penguins. Davis was one, having history in the first attempt of Project: Habitat, but other was Hernandez. And Rico Hernandez was name she would never forget given the amount of trouble his case had caused not only her but CENTRAAL as a whole. She still insisted that he should have gone to Hoboken after failing his first psych evaluation, but Davis had insisted that with proper training and a firm hand Hernandez could become a valuable asset. Of course she hated that he had been right, but looking at the other names on the roster like Kowalski, Johnson, and Manfredi, it also established a pattern that she could use against him.

Alice smiled to herself knowing that Davis would not be able to turn down the MI6 transfer. He ticked all the boxes on the profile just as the Council thought he would. It was only a matter of having James Quinn in for a debrief and that would be the only and biggest issue they they'd have to face. Quinn could always revoke his application to the program and still transfer to CENTRAAL. It had happened before when a potential member was debriefed on not only what the program entailed in full, but the information given on the circumstances and personalities of a team.

Alice sighed and stared at the names on the roster, knowing all the details behind them. Even after all these years she wasn't sure if the Penguins were her greatest achievement or failure. She leaned toward failure most days when she was reminded of the CENTRAAL wide rumor that the Penguins were indeed psychotic. A rumor she would deny with her dying breath because she stood by the fact that 3 out 5 clean psych evaluations meant that not all the Penguins were psychotic.


	6. Operation: Neighbors

**Many of the last names used for the characters from the series are taken from the scientific name of the animal they were in the series. **

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Day 6 - Operation: Neighbor

Marlene startled at the knock on her door and silently cursed whoever it was that made her spill some of the moscato she had started pouring. It had been a particularly hellish week at the gallery on top of the already nightmarish month of prepping for a new exhibit and she deserved every last drop of her wine. She looked at her phone before making her way to the door a small flicker of hope in her chest that Skipper was on the other side even if she hadn't heard anything from him in well over a week. Actually a quick glance at the calendar told her that it had nearly a month with no contact with the team and nearly two since they had left. It was hard to wrap her mind around it having been that long.

However, the hope that the team was back was dashed as she looked through the peep hole to see the Pan brothers along with Joseph M. Rufus, Burt Elephus, and several others who were in the building next to Penguin HQ huddled outside her door. The sight wasn't as unusual as many would think. She had lost count of the times she had been sought out by the occupants of the buildings around Penguin HQ for the sole purpose of complaining about them. As if having her pass the message along would somehow push the team into finding a solution to the problem. Still she had never had so many of them at her door at once.

Of course she understood why many of them would think that would work, given how often Julien's problems were nipped in the bud. Still Julien was the only one who got that treatment and he got it for two reasons, one being that he did his complaining in person. The second reason being that if Julien's problems weren't sorted out then the Penguins didn't get to sleep and Skipper didn't do well without sleep. She had found him interrogating the coffee pot during one Julien induced sleepless week. Yet, Skipper would be hard pressed to move the world for anyone else after the relationship between Julien and Rico had formed from taking care of those minuscule complaints.

"Terribly sorry to trouble you Marlene, but we were wondering if you've heard anything from Skipper or his team?" Mason Pan asked as she opened her door.

A dozen scenarios ran through her head in that moment. She even had the perfect greeting, a ever useful 'what did they do this time' since the vast majority of them only came to her when they wanted her to voice their complaints to the team, they even complained when the Penguins were out on a long term mission, but the question failed to come out as she noticed the hopeful expression on their faces as they waited in anticipation for her answer.

"Uh, no. I haven't heard anything in weeks actually. Sorry, if I heard anything I'd have let you know." Marlene knew that wasn't entirely true. She hardly said anything to anyone aside from Julien and Maurice whenever the guys were out on a mission. Everyone else seemed secondary in needing to know what the guys were up to or when they were coming back. No one else seemed to care when the Penguins were gone, finding peace in the silence of HQ where Marlene, Julien, and Maurice found unease in that absence of chaos that only the Penguins could create and stamp down in a single day.

"Oh," Mason seemed surprised and took a second to figure out where he would go with the conversation. "It's quite alright. We thought it may be a stretch to come over and ask, but we also thought that you were the closest to the team and may have heard when they might be returning. We'll take our leave and apologizes for intruding upon your evening."

Marlene watched as their faces fell much like her stomach as she began to worry. The Penguins had been gone for some time, it wasn't the longest time they been gone from her understanding, but their continued absence was starting to be felt among the neighborhood. "Wait, you're not intruding. Why don't you all come in for a bit since you're here anyway. I just opened a bottle of moscato and it's been... really quiet lately."

"Almost too quiet, Leonard has started have trouble sleeping because of the lack of noise," Joey commented as the the small group shuffled inside Marlene's apartment with little fanfare.

"I could always tell Julien to spend a few days at the Penguins," Marlene joked as she went to get out wine glasses. She knew that the young prince would take advantage of the surround sound the Penguins had whenever given the chance.

Joey looked scandalized for a moment. "Don't you dare, I think that brat is worse than Penguins, although I think he's been rather quiet lately as well."

Marlene nodded in understanding, but didn't say anything. Many rolled their eyes at Julien and Rico's relationship and nearly bit off their tongues in an effort to refrain from telling Rico to leave before Julien got bored with with him. And while it pissed Marlene off, it was Julien and Rico's relationship and it needed no validation from near strangers who didn't see how Julien looked at Rico like he hung the moon and stars for him and vice versa.

"It is funny isn't it? I know we all complain about the ruckus that the Penguins cause, but they really are good neighbors to have. They're always willing to help us out of tricky situations." Burt added as he accepted a glass of wine from Marlene.

"_Even if they do cause a lot of those situations_." Phil signed much to his brother's chagrin.

"Phil, you can't hold Kowalski's track record against all of them." Mason chastised his brother even if what he signed was true. "Besides they helped clean that dump of an apartment you had before the health department could condemn it."

A ripple of laughter went through the apartment and while the weight of the Penguins' absence still hung over them, it didn't seem quite as heavy.


	7. Operation: FISH

Originally supposed to be posted to Tumblr on Saturday, 1st December 2018

**Day 7 - Operation: F.I.S.H.**

"You're really going through with it?" Nigel commented as he watched his nephew look over the documents that had been sent earlier that afternoon.

James closed his eyes and counted to ten before answering. His patience with his uncle had been running thin for some time, perhaps years if he wasn't able to use general angst and dead parents as an excuse for some of his behavior in his teenage years. Still he braced himself for a conversation that he had had several times in the last few weeks. "I told you Uncle Nigel, I am done with being a tool for MI6 to use however they please."

"Because this American agency won't do the same. You're naive as ever James," Nigel scoffed and eyed the documents finding the amount of black running across them distasteful. It was a joke that CENTRAAL had even bothered to redact any information on the files they sent. There was still enough information left that if even one of those documents had slipped into the wrong hands between Washington D.C. and London the agency would have an international incident on their hands and lost five assets.

James closed the file he had in-front of him and turned his full attention on his uncle wondering what angle he'd decided to play this time around. It had been an on-going battle for months now, ever since he had first submitted a transfer request. It hadn't taken him long to learn that transferring within MI6 wouldn't be enough to get out from his Uncle's watchful eye. "CENTRAAL isn't MI6. The program I applied for is the only one it in existence."

"Ah, yes, Project: Habitat," Nigel said rolling his eyes. He read all about CENTRAAL's idea to create not only specialized teams but centralized teams where the members co-existed together. In other words an international incident just waiting to happen. "Just another attempt on an idea that already proved to be a failure."

"You're not going to change my mind." Ever since he had met with Alice over the possibility of transferring directly into the project he had wanted nothing more than to be a part of a team.

"Look James, I understand that you're upset over what happened with the bloody Kidd," Nigel hated how his nephew flinched at the name. It was ridiculous how one botched mission had taken all of the bite out of James. "However, unplanned casualties happen in our line of work."

"It wasn't just what happened with Kidd," James snapped, "I didn't like what I was becoming. Mr. Tux wasn't me."

"Of course, Mr. Tux was you, James. Are you even hearing what you are saying? Do you really think you can just run off to America and forget about being Mr. Tux? It makes you sound like loon spouting off such rubbish." Nigel made a mental note to reexamine Jame's psych evaluations. When he last looked James had passed them with flying colors, but had be been given one after the incident with Kidd? It would be a possible avenue to block the transfer, at least from MI6's side of things.

"I know I can't forget about what happened," James started blocking out the images of that mission that had haunted him for weeks. He had gotten better at it, but he swore he could still hear the panicked screams. "But I can try to learn from it and try to be a better person."

"And how do you think that's going to work? You haven't the faintest idea of what type of team you're signing yourself to."

"I know exactly what type of team I'm joining." James stood angrily, the chair he had been sitting in fell to the floor with a clatter. He was tired of Uncle Nigel always doubting his decisions and push him to follow in his footsteps. "The Penguins believe in F.I.S.H and in joining them I am swearing to uphold the values of Fraternity, Integrity, Security, and Humility."

Nigel laughed, "how adorable. The Penguins like fish. It's all rubbish James. A front to make people feel better about selecting psychopaths to protect their country. Would you really like to know who is on your team? Because I went, and I found them," Nigel tossed a flash-drive at James who caught it on reflex. "You have a former member of Sombras Del Diablo, one of the most lethal and notorious drug cartels in South America, a certified genius who was transferred to field work for being deemed too unstable in a lab environment, two other individuals who have described as lit dynamite thrown in a pool of gasoline for the amount of damage they caused, and finally your commanding officer whose original team was cited as the primary reason for Project: Alpha's failure."

James stared that the flashdrive in his hand, struck by a sense of betrayal. "You hacked into the Penguins' private files?" He asked unnecessarily as it registered in his mind that his uncle had violated the trust between two international agencies just to stop him from transferring. "You think I didn't already know everything you just told me about the Penguins? CENTRAAL has been nothing but honest with me. They gave me access to the Penguins personnel files the second I agreed to join and Captain Davis accepted my application."

Nigel brushed off the accusation. He knew James wouldn't understand, at least not now. He was too stubborn and hard-headed, just like his father. "I cashed in a few favors because CENTRAAL wasn't going to be honest with you. Your talents are going to be wasted on the mess they call a team and more to the point that team is going to get you killed."


End file.
